Quality:…..9

On January 2017, after 2 months of having Xbox One in my possession, I decided to purchase a decent headset in order to ‘’unlock my console’s full potential’’, by finally being able to communicate with my mates from Rocket League!

My first headset was the original Xbox One headset. With all its plastic glory, it served its purpose well for about 4 months. When I started streaming games, I found out that I could not continue broadcasting myself using solely my camera’s microphone. Unfortunately, the refrigerator’s compressor and the television were too loud for their own good. So there was a dilemma; change refrigerator or purchase a decent headset? Of course, I picked the latter.

The concept was, to buy something that combined the best of two worlds; supreme headphones’ audio quality and a decent microphone. Ultimately, my friend Rawstylerzz91 talked me into this; the Hyper X Cloud II 7.1 headset. I went to the store, paid a hefty amount of money and returned home.

The product smells quality from a mile away. It was seriously the first time I ever hesitated opening a packing like that! The contents were of great quality as well. The headset features an aluminum metal frame, making it both sturdy and lightweight, which makes it pretty ideal for long gaming and streaming sessions. The design is outstanding (I bought it in red and black, as the one in the picture) and is a very pleasant view for the eye. The headphones are excellent as well. They isolate background noise very well and provide a rich and of prime fidelity sound. The games feel truly alive, especially the survival horror ones (try playing Alien Isolation while wearing these and come talk to me later!!)! The headset is accompanied by an external USB sound card, on which you can activate the 7.1 sound and regulate game audio and party chat as well.

As far as the microphone is concerned, it is decent. Not a single player on Xbox Live has made me any complaints about the quality of my voice. Furthermore, the microphone is brilliant for streaming purposes, and a very nice investment to those who cannot spend more money on a separate microphone and sound interface. However, the microphone ”looks” a bit on the cheap side and its design could be substituted with something more retractable and ”sci fi – ish”.

You can connect the headset via 3.5 mm cable preferably on consoles’ controllers and via the sound card to a USB port on your computer. Eventually, the cord is braided and tangle free, meaning that it will rarely frustrate you as far as twisting is concerned.

Ergonomy/ Ease of use:…..9

If a piece of gaming hardware needed more than one or two things to enjoy it, then would be an utter catastrophe! The headset is ‘’plug and play’’ and it works perfectly from the moment you plug it in on your computer or on your console. The only problem I had was that until the memory foam on the headphones took the form of my ears, the headset hurt my head a bit after prolonged exposure.

Value for money:…..9

I bought the headset for 85 Euros which is quite a lot for that kind of hardware. However, taking into account that I use it almost everyday, it is well worth the money. I would not change it even with a more expensive one, since it does the job just fine. In my opinion, it is a must have for every gamer, both casual and professional.

SCORE:….9 , ‘’Epic’’.

”For achieving a near perfect equilibrium between reasonable price and supreme quality.”